Horst Rippert scored his claims 20 through to 29 ( or 28 ? ) while serving with 13./JG 27 and after the disbandment of IV./JG 27 in early 1945 with 7./JG 27 within II. Gruppe. There are some discrepancies as to the confirmation of some claims owing to the fact that they were claimed rather late and few documents have survived that would allow to verify all of his late claims.

Have a look at the claims lists in the two volumes dealing with II. and with III and IV. Gruppen of JG 27, where you can see the details as far as we were able to establish them.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Jochen Prien

kaki3152

17th July 2006, 00:15

Dr. Prien,

I have both the II/JG-27 and the III/IV/JG-27 books. I guess the fact that puzzles me in your III/IV/JG-27 you state that Horst Ripper came to join 13./JG-27 (really enjoyed reading the paragraph about him,by the way) with nineteen victories. His record W/ JGR. Süd and JGr-200 only account for eleven Abschusse. Where did he score his other eight victories before being assigned to 13./JG-27?

Thanks,

Carlos

Tom Semenza

19th July 2006, 06:13

Carlos,

The claims I found in Tony Wood's lists differ somewhat from those you have listed. There is a claim for 7 Mar 44 for a B-17 (4./JGr. Süd). The undated claim you list was from 24 July 44. The two claims you list for 7 & 8 Aug 44 I cannot find. In addition the last listed claim for a P-47 on 12 Aug 44 is actually credited to Ofw. Eduard Isken.

Ultimately this leaves a total of 10 claims for Rippert in Wood's lists. The footnote you mention in Prien et al. in "III. u. IV./JG 27" seems to indicate that Rippert's first 19 claims were all made with JGr. Süd/JGr. 200 and included 9 4-engine and 7 twin-engine aircraft.

As I am sure you are aware that Tony Wood makes no secret about the fact that his claims lists are far from complete. Therefore the "missing" nine claims may have been made before, between or after those listed.
We can hope that Dr. Prien and his colleagues will elucidate this and other mysteries in future volumes of their wonderful "Jagdfliegerverbände" series.

"You'll never silence the voice of the voiceless" - Rage Against The Machine

polpott

16th March 2008, 23:12

he was the guy who downed antoine saint exupery in summer 44, near toulon in france. Horst Rippert is today 88 years old, and he says that he would´ve never done it if he knew.
the 1900 born french author was (and still is) famous and wellknown for his book "le petit prince" and disappeared the 31st of july 1944.

Horst Rippert is the brother of the german singer Ivan Rebroff who lately died.

Nick Beale

17th March 2008, 00:06

he was the guy who downed antoine saint exupery in summer 44, near toulon in france. Horst Rippert is today 88 years old, and he says that he would´ve never done it if he knew.

See the other thread on this page. Evidence for Rippert's (belated) claim is lacking in the contemporary records.

In the past, there was an unfounded claim that Saint-Exupéry was shot down by a pilot of 2./NAG 13 named Heichele. Since Rippert apparently worked in broadcasting it seems likely that he would have been aware of this. If he was aware, he does not seem to have said anything to correct it.

ChrisS

17th March 2008, 11:53

The story made the whole of page 3 of The Times this morning with a front page header. According to the article, the 88 year old Rippert also claims to be Jewish, and that he idolised St Ex's writing.

Question: why wait so long to 'come out'?

B.F.M. Droog

17th March 2008, 13:15

To me it sounds like a publicity stunt for the book that's about to be released.
An explanation of why Rippert is 'speaking out' now could be a craving for publicity - he worked for years with the ZDF.

Regards,

Bart

RossGmann

18th March 2008, 06:39

The following website http://www.luftwaffe.cz/04-1945.pdf gives the following information